Top Law Schools

Post removed

tweedledee wrote:GPA is around 3.75 from a top private university. 174 from a single take.

Have good ECs from undergrad, along with membership in scholars groups (GPA/academically based). Would say my majors from undergrad are interesting and wrote a senior thesis (optional my school) that was legally focused.

Currently working at a nonprofit that does the kind of work (public interest/human rights/social justice) that I am interested in doing during/after law school. Would say my experience here is relatively unique and will give me useful materials for my personal essay.

What are my chances at the T3? Will my GPA hold me back?

T14? Most interested in Harvard and Yale, and prefer to go to school in a more metropolitan area outside those two schools.

http://mylsn.info/nyc0l2/

Seems like you've got a very good shot everywhere, especially in light of the decrease in applicants with your level of LSAT.

Probably in at H unless you fuck something up

Given your interests, I'd strongly consider the Root Tilden Kern full tuition scholarship at NYU. You have numbers that are competitive for it and it would set you up as well or better than some of the other schools you listed, for less debt.

jbagelboy wrote:Given your interests, I'd strongly consider the Root Tilden Kern full tuition scholarship at NYU. You have numbers that are competitive for it and it would set you up as well or better than some of the other schools you listed, for less debt.

Thanks! I'm definitely applying to NYU and a full scholarship from there would be hard to turn down. Crossing my fingers!

FWIW those are not good softs. You'll get in where your numbers say you should, but your softs are not competitive for YS.

malleus discentium wrote:FWIW those are not good softs. You'll get in where your numbers say you should, but your softs are not competitive for YS.

I've always wondered what constituted "good softs"?

tweedledee wrote:

malleus discentium wrote:FWIW those are not good softs. You'll get in where your numbers say you should, but your softs are not competitive for YS.

I've always wondered what constituted "good softs"?

Think of "good softs" are things that the adcoms think they can use to highlight the quality of the school and the students they attract. These are factors that will give a slight boost to the applicant's chances because of their unique nature. Are you a highly decorated vet? Did you win a nationally competitive award (Fulbright, rhodes, etc.)? Do you have high impact published graduate research (Ph.D.)? Is there some other quality that you bring that would significantly enhance their incoming class (URM)?

That may seem like a short list, but that is intentional. There is very little that will allow an applicant to pull above their numbers, that's why LSN is such an amazing resource for 95% of applicants. Unfortunately for you, a couple of years work experience in a PI nonprofit isn't a terribly unique profile for incoming law students. It will at least not preclude you from a RTK at NYU like a lack of PI experience would, but it won't help your admission chances as much as you'd hope. The good news is your numbers are strong, you've at least got a shot at admission into the T3. Write a strong personal statement, and hopefully the adcoms see something they like!

antiworldly wrote:

tweedledee wrote:

malleus discentium wrote:FWIW those are not good softs. You'll get in where your numbers say you should, but your softs are not competitive for YS.

I've always wondered what constituted "good softs"?

Think of "good softs" are things that the adcoms think they can use to highlight the quality of the school and the students they attract. These are factors that will give a slight boost to the applicant's chances because of their unique nature. Are you a highly decorated vet? Did you win a nationally competitive award (Fulbright, rhodes, etc.)? Do you have high impact published graduate research (Ph.D.)? Is there some other quality that you bring that would significantly enhance their incoming class (URM)?

That may seem like a short list, but that is intentional. There is very little that will allow an applicant to pull above their numbers, that's why LSN is such an amazing resource for 95% of applicants. Unfortunately for you, a couple of years work experience in a PI nonprofit isn't a terribly unique profile for incoming law students. It will at least not preclude you from a RTK at NYU like a lack of PI experience would, but it won't help your admission chances as much as you'd hope. The good news is your numbers are strong, you've at least got a shot at admission into the T3. Write a strong personal statement, and hopefully the adcoms see something they like!

Without disagreeing too much with this post, I've always considered "good softs" to be something that a law school can write on their "class profile page." Look at those for the school you want to get into, and that's what counts as a good softs.

If you limit to the above, it doesn't explain fully why some people with higher stats don't get in- YP wouldn't explain everything.

average* softs, so not much to offer Y or S, but extremely high probability of H.

(* even if optional, an honors thesis is not that big a deal anymore, unless it turns into a pub in a nationally-respected, peer reviewed journal.)

Thanks, guys! This is very helpful.

I would say decent shot at H and very slim shot at Y